By Brian Keogh
Corballis Links wrote its name into Tudenham Cup history by becoming the first Dublin club to lift the trophy after their battle with Birr was declared a tie due to lack of light.
The Corballis panel travelled to Mullingar Golf Club for the final, capping a five-round campaign involving 16 players but there was no winner due to fading light and both teams agreed to share the trophy.
The competition began in 1985 as the Bloomfield Cup, sponsored by the Bloomfield House Hotel, situated next door to Mullingar Golf Club.
The fourball matchplay event—five pairs, with a three/two home-and-away split—made it popular across the four provinces.
In 1999 it was renamed the Tudenham Cup, and it has since had several sponsors, currently Smiddys Bar in Mullingar.
Corballis’s success is therefore not just a win but a breakthrough: after decades of champions from outside the capital, a Dublin club has finally claimed the Cup.
The event is for players with a maximum handicap index of 17.0 and no pair can have a combined handicap lower than 12.0.
Team manager Wayne Sheehan led a panel including Graham Smith, Ed Murphy, Gary McCormack, Paul Nolan, Leo Walsh, Darren McCann, Rod Mangan, David Rooney, Ollie Deneher, Brian Farrell, Jimmy Roche, Martin Murphy, Stephen Doran, Trevor Vaughan and Derek Shields.
Corballis beat Moate, Slieve Russell and Edenderry to reach the final.
The Offaly club beat Glasson, Esker Hills and Moyvalley en route to the decider.
